Remote telepresence gaze direction

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for controlling a live avatar include features for directing the live avatar gaze to be consistent with a remote operator&#39;s view of the live avatar&#39;s surroundings. Indication of gaze direction may be continuously provided to the live avatar using movable optics, for example a heads-up display, or a movable optical prism or lens. Gaze direction or operator commands may be communicated using a haptic device. Video and control streams from multiple live avatars may be aggregated through a host server and allocated via an online interface to multiple prospective remote operators.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.provisional application Ser. No. 61/375,394, filed Aug. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates to remote telepresence using a liveavatar, and more particularly to specific features such as gazedirection and initiating a connection to an available avatar.

2. Description of Related Art

Certain people are unable, unwilling, or not desirous of travel to aremote location. Online computer systems provide virtual worldexperiences that can mimic real travel in a computer environment,including interacting with other persons in remote locales as if onewere physically present. However, virtual world interactions are onlyeffective for participants in the relevant virtual world system, and donot permit virtual interactions with persons who are active only in thephysical world and do not participate in virtual world activities.

For example, politicians such as Gary Locke or Barack Obama well havebeen interested in attending the Consumer Electronics Show, yet wouldhave been unable to do so even if security concerns could be met,because their presence at the CES would cause the booth operators tochange how they display and behave on the day of the visit, therebyrobbing these government officials of the ability to see the show as itreally took place. Non-celebrities may also be interested in virtuallyattending live events, merely to eliminate travel expenses, to enablelong-distance learning, to negotiate agreements, or to transfer expertknowledge quickly to a remote location.

However, currently live avatar technology is merely rudimentary inconcept and do not fully enable a more natural interaction between thelive avatar and other people in the avatar's immediate surroundings,that enables the remote operator to experience the scene as if in theperson of the live avatar. In addition, current technology does notsupport mass distribution of avatar services to enable large-scalecommercialization of such services. It is therefore also desirable toprovide improvements addressing these and other deficiencies in currentavatar technology.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the following aspects provide for a method and system fordirecting the gaze of a live avatar in response to control signals froma remote operator. These improvements may enable a more immersiveexperience for the operator, so that the operator may more fully standin the person of a remote avatar. The improvements may also enablelarge-scale commercialization of avatar services, providing bothemployment for would-be avatars and delivering avatar services to awider range of consumers.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method for directing the gaze of alive avatar in response to control signals from a remote operator mayinclude receiving control signals from a first client device operated bya human operator, the control signals indicating a direction of operatorgaze relative to a defined body part of the operator. The method mayfurther include controlling a movable optic device in response to thecontrol signals so as to direct a gaze of the live avatar.

In an aspect, the method may further include visibly indicating therelative direction of operator gaze using a visible indicator orientedto the defined body part of the live avatar, the visible indicator beingresponsive to the control signal to point out the direction of operatorgaze relative to the defined body part. For example, the defined bodypart may be selected from the group consisting of a head and a torso. Insuch case, the visible indicator may indicate, relative to the head ortorso of the live avatar, the gaze direction of the live operatorrelative to the live operator's head or torso. In the alternative, or inaddition, the gaze direction indicated to the live avatar may indicate adirection in which the live avatar should orient his head, torso, and/oreyes to view an object of interest to the remote operator.

In another aspect, the movable optic device may include an optical prismor lens configured to bend light in a defined direction. In such case,the method may further include rotating at least one prism or lensincluded in the movable optics, in response to the control signals. Thelive avatar may therefore receive the indication of the gaze directionby looking through the optical prism or lens.

In another aspect, the method may include indicating the relativedirection of operator gaze using a haptic device attached to the liveavatar. For example, a pressure transducer may provide an impulse orsqueeze to the right side of the live avatar's body to direct the gazeof the live avatar rightward, to direct the head of the live avatarrightward, and so forth. In addition, or in the alternative, the methodmay include communicating commands signals from the first client to thelive avatar, using a haptic device attached to the live avatar. Forexample, the live avatar may interpret a push by a haptic device on thelive avatars right foot as a command to walk to the right, and so forth.

In another aspect, the method may further include receiving a videostream from a camera carried or worn by the live avatar, andtransmitting the video stream to the first client device for display tothe operator. In such case, the method may include controlling thecamera direction in response to the control signals, to cause the camerato point in the direction of operator gaze. In addition, or in thealternative, the operator gaze may be defined by the direction in whichthe camera is oriented, which may be directly controlled by the remoteoperator. When the camera is directly controlled by the operator, themethod may include displaying video images from the video stream to thelive avatar, using a heads-up display. The moveable optic device mayinclude the heads-up display. The live avatar may therefore direct hisor her own gaze to view the object or scene appearing in the heads-updisplay. To a person interacting with the live avatar, the live avatarwill thereby be actually viewing the same scene as the remote operator,such that the live avatar more fully represents the remote operator. Inthe alternative, or in addition, the heads-up display may display anarrow or other symbolic indicator to indicate the gaze direction of theoperator.

In a variation, cameras may be mounted in additional locations on thelive avatar in a manner that allows the operator to see an approximationof the view that the person they are interacting with is seeing. Forexample, a camera mounted on the back of an avatar's head may allow theoperator to see the same thing that a person facing the live avatar isseeing, without requiring the live avatar to turn his head or requiringa camera to pan. Optionally, an indicator may be used to show one ormore people interacting with the live avatar that the operator isviewing something behind live avatar or in an alternative direction towhere the live avatar is looking.

An apparatus for enabling operation of a live avatar may be adapted forwearing by a person, and may include a processor, a movable optic devicecoupled to the processor, a wireless network interface coupled to theprocessor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory may holdprogram instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause theapparatus to receive control signals via the wireless network interfacefrom a first client device operated by a human operator, interpret thecontrol signals as indicating a direction of operator gaze, and tocontrol a movable optic device in response to the control signals so asto direct a gaze of the live avatar. The direction of gaze may bedefined relative to a defined body part of the operator (e.g., right,left, up, down, etc.), relative to one or more objects visible to theavatar (e.g., looking at person ‘X’), or using a cardinal direction(e.g., north, south, etc.).

The apparatus may further include a visible indicator coupled to theprocessor and visibly indicating the relative direction of operator gazeoriented to the defined body part of the live avatar, the visibleindicator being responsive to the control signal to point out thedirection of operator gaze relative to the defined body part. In oneimplementation, a light or laser dot may be displayed on or near theobject that the operator is viewing (or the avatar gaze point). Thelaser or light dot may coupled with an intensity regulation device and adistance and/or visual processor that together determine when to reduceor increase the intensity of the light or laser dot. For example, whenthe dot is projected near faces or eyes, it may be dramatically reducedin intensity, turned off, or projected on the body of the person insteadof the head, or even in a circle that surrounds but does not intersectwith the head or eyes. Increase in intensity may be correlated withincreased distance of the display point, just as decrease in intensitymay be correlated with decreased distance of the display point.

Stereoscopic cameras on the live avatar may be coupled with stereoscopicdisplays or glasses on the operator to achieve 3D vision.

In another aspect, the apparatus may include a mechanism coupled to theprocessor, the mechanism rotating at least one prism or lens included inthe movable optics in response to the control signals.

In another aspect, the apparatus may include a haptic device coupled tothe processor and indicating the relative direction of operator gaze viaan attachment to the live avatar. In the alternative, or in addition,the haptic device or another haptic device may be used to indicateoperator commands from the first client device via an attachment to thelive avatar.

An electronic name plate showing the identity of the person controllingan avatar may be desirable. Such a nameplate may be altered remotely toreflect the current identity of the operator.

Instructions may be given to the live avatar to gather writtenmaterials. Accordingly, the live avatar may be equipped with at leastone very high resolution camera capable of transmitting sufficientlyhigh resolution video so that a computer can correct for opticalproblems (such as an image taken at an angle) and then display or causea printer to print a copy of the materials. Alternatively, writtenmaterials may be gathered with 3D or other bar code or similartechnology indicating what materials should be displayed or printed forthe operator, and the materials collected remotely from an onlinedatabase.

In another aspect, the apparatus may include a video stream inputcoupled to the processor receiving a video stream from a camera carriedor worn by the live avatar, wherein the wireless network interfacetransmits the video stream to the first client device for display to theoperator. In such case, the memory may hold further instructions thatwhen executed by the processor, may cause the apparatus to point thecamera in the direction of operator gaze relative to the defined bodypart of the live avatar in response to the control signals. In anotheraspect, the apparatus may include a heads-up display coupled to theprocessor and displaying video images from the video stream to the liveavatar.

In another aspect, a method enabling commercialization of live avatarservices may include a computer server or the like receiving videostreams at a first server, the video streams originating from separatevideo cameras carried at contemporaneous times by different liveavatars, and each associated with a respective identifier for ones ofthe different live avatars. The method may further include serving aninterface, the interface indicating identifiers for the different liveavatars and enabling each of multiple clients to select at least any oneof the video streams associated with the different live avatars. Themethod may further include receiving selection signals from the multipleclients and initiating connections between the multiple clients and thelive avatars for controlling respective ones of the live avatars.

In an aspect, the method may include configuring the interface toinclude only selected ones of the video streams from live avatars thatare not being controlled by any one of multiple clients. In thealternative, or in addition, the method may include configuring theinterface to indicate whether respective ones of the live avatars arebeing controlled by any one of multiple clients. The method may beimplemented using one or more computers having port for connecting to awide area network, using program instructions encoding in acomputer-readable storage medium or the like. When executed by aprocessor of the one or more computers, the instructions may cause theone or more computers to perform the described operations.

A more complete understanding of the method and apparatus for directingthe gaze of a live avatar in response to a remote operator, and otheraspects, will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as arealization of additional advantages and objects thereof, by aconsideration of the following detailed description of the preferredembodiment. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawingswhich will first be described briefly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for directing thegaze of a live avatar in response to a remote operator.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a method for directing the gazeof a live avatar in response to a remote operator.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a system for providing aninterface between a live avatar and a remote operator.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method for providing aninterface between a live avatar and a remote operator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosures concerns methods and systems by which a firstperson can interact virtually with second person located in a placeremote from the first person, without requiring the second person to useany kind of artificial communication system. The method and systems alsopermit the first person to interact with natural, real-world objects andanimals located remotely from the first person. The methods and systemsutilize a distinction between higher and lower brain function to permita distant person to control certain activities of a distant, real-worldavatar linked to a virtual world computer system. As used herein,“remote” may include a physical separation of any kind that prevents theoperator from doing what the live avatar is doing. Generally, physicalseparation may consist of geographical distance, but may also arise fromother constraints, for example, limited access due to security concerns,safety concerns, or other factors which may prevent an operator fromentering the immediate environment of the live avatar.

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of brain function: Higher brainfunction, such as talking, thinking, observing, learning, and otherwiseprocessing data or movement in a delayed manner (“High Functions”), andlower brain functions, corresponding in many ways to those brainfunctions present in humans but also in animals without higher brainfunction, and includes such functions as walking in direction the HighFunctions direct, moving the mouth, teeth, and other muscles responsiblefor speaking the words as directed by High Functions, breathing,standing, avoiding objects when walking, and in some cases learned lowerfunction such as operating the mechanical aspects of driving a vehicle(“Lower Functions”). A person capable only of Lower Functions may beable to navigate an environment in a rudimentary manner without fallingover objects or falling over.

Implementations may be utilized where the live avatar engages inactivities that require certain high level skills, or particularly highquality low level skills, and where the engagement involves activitiesother than or in addition to interacting with other persons. Forexample, a live avatar may engage in skydiving, stunts, SCUBA or skiing.Such a live avatar may be permitted to override the instructions of theoperator for safety or other reasons and in such a case, such overridemay be indicated on the live avatar, to the live avatar, to theoperator, or a combination thereof. Such implementations mayadditionally be utilized in conjunction with education or distancelearning.

The present technologies may allow those who cannot travel, such as thevery ill, the very famous, paraplegics in non-accessible areas, andothers, to have a physical presence, or more exactly, a telepresenceusing another person's physical body. They also allow the person withthe physical presence to hide their true identity, to virtually inhabita person with different physical appearance and characteristics forbusiness, anonymity, or other purposes, or to simply choose a desired oreffective telepresence recipient based on performance, physical, orother characteristics. It also solves the problem created when using arobotic device for telepresence, as telepresence through a roboticdevice may be both unusual enough to intimidate visitors and odd enoughto trigger differences in how people interact with the robotic unit.

For the purposes of this disclosure, the person who is not physicallypresent at the event is the “physical attendee” or “live avatar”, andthe person not physically at the event is the “operator”, “virtualattendee”, or “remote person”.

The present technologies, on a high level, operate by providing theoperator with tools to discretely signal desired movements and otheractions to the live avatar, optionally without persons interacting withthe live avatar being aware of the signals. It should be noted that incertain cases, discrete and/or concealed signals are not preferable, andanything up to and include a live display of instructions or signalsvisible to those interacting with the live avatar may be implemented.The signals may be sent using a motion-sensing controller, a joystick, acamera, sensors on the body to read movement, direct reading of brainwaves, verbal, text, three-dimensional movement (e.g., as sensed using a3D sensor for example as implemented in the Microsoft® Kinect®) or othersignals. The live avatar may receive these signals using similarpathways, including without limitation physical pressure on the portionof the body to be moved, physical pressure on a part of the body thatthe live avatar is taught how to interpret, information transmittedvisually, via audio, via brainwave input, via direct control of certainmuscle groups, or otherwise. The live avatar may be equipped with theability to transmit video and audio from the remote event, and theoperator may be equipped with the ability to transmit at least audiosignals and optionally video signals to the live avatar, for output topersons in the vicinity of the live avatar. For example, video signalstransmitted from the operator may be displayed on a monitor worn on theshirt or other part of the body of the live avatar, or projected from aprojector on the live avatar or carried by the live avatar. In oneimplementation, facial movements of the operator may be transmitted tothe live avatar by audio cues (i.e. the word “smile” transmitted throughan earpiece) or by directly controlling the muscles by utilizing anelectrical current sent to the muscles responsible for that facialmovement. In one implementation, the operator may be in a motionsimulator, and telemetry and motion data sent back from the live avatarmay be utilized to control the motion simulator. In other cases, suchmotion data and telemetry may be used to provide feedback to theoperator in other ways, such as direct neural stimulation or haptics.

The operator and live avatar establish a two way communicationsconnection using a remote communication system, which may connectwirelessly to the live avatar. The live avatar controls all LowerFunctions, such as making sure he walks properly without falling,breathing, navigating obstructions, etc. The operator transmitsinstructions or signals for actions controlled by Higher Functions tothe live avatar via the communication system, who then implements theactions in response to the signals. For example, the live avatar mightgrab a brochure from a table, turn left and walks down that anotheraisle. Taking the example of Barack Obama attending the CES anonymously,he may “inhabit” a live avatar, direct the live avatar through CES,approach booth operators, talk with them (presumably through a speaker,although potentially through direct control of the voice of the liveavatar or through a combination of a speaker and some muscle control tomimic lip movement). As the booth operator responds, the responses aretransmitted to Barack Obama, who in turn instructs the live avatar tointeract with the booth owner. It should be noted that certain HigherFunctions may be left to the live avatar (such as filling in the“blanks” with facial expressions during conversations or operatingdevices that require Higher Functions, particularly during distancelearning). In other cases, certain Lower Functions may be controlledremotely where possible. For example, the Lower Function of sweating maybe induced utilizing chemical, medical, or neurological stimulants whereit is desirable that the live avatar appear to be sweating.

The present technologies include placing a camera or two cameras,integrated into eyeglasses worn by the operator, one at or near thelocation of each pupil. The cameras may track movement in the pupils ofthe operator. In another implementation, the live avatar receives avisual or physical indication of the direction the operator is looking.In a further implementation, glasses worn by the live avatar eitheroptically redirect the gaze of the live avatar to follow the gaze of theoperator, or show a dot over the spot the operator is observing. In animplementation, the redirection of the gaze operates to both redirectthe apparent gaze of the live avatar when observed by somebodyinteracting with the live avatar and to direct video data beingtransmitted from the live avatar to the operator. In the alternative,the video data is generated independently of the live avatar gazedirection, and it may be left to the voluntary cooperation of the liveavatar to align his or her gaze with that the camera collecting thevideo data.

In another implementation, an intermediate person or computer existsbetween the operator and the live avatar to translate from one languageto another. In an implementation, the live avatar speaks the languageneeded at the event, and directly translates audio received from theoperator into the language needed at the event. Language transmittedfrom the event to the operator may be translated by the live avatar, butin an implementation is transmitted from the live avatar to a person orcomputer where it is then translated into the operator's language andreplayed to the operator in that language, with or without the operatorbeing able to hear the original untranslated version and/or ambientnoises at the event.

In another implementation, control of live avatars may be switchedbetween various different operators and likewise feedback from liveavatars directed to the currently controlling operator. This may permitthe number of operators and the number of live avatars to differ. In oneimplementation, one or more operators monitor the input from one or morelive avatars and, when the input indicates that the operator is in anarea of interest, the operator “inhabits” the live avatar, takingcontrol for the period the operator desires. The live avatar may receivea signal indicating that control has been taken or relinquished. Whencontrol is relinquished, the live avatar may be given (or operates onpreviously given) instructions as to what items, places or events toproceed to.

In another implementation, the live avatar may multicast to multipleoperators. The operators may be given control over the live avatar viaan algorithmic mechanism, such as by spending money or units of “controlcredit”, by region the live avatar is located in (as measured by GPS orother mechanisms), randomly, or by other selection criteria. In oneimplementation, the live avatar may be “transmit only” and enable peopleto voyeuristically experience the sights and sounds as seen by the liveavatar. One such example might be to equip an entire professional hockeyteam with binocular cameras and stereo microphones, allowing a pluralityof operators to “occupy” players of their choice during a professionalhockey game—playing the role of goalie for a period, then forward, etc.

In one implementation, the location of the live avatar on a larger mapmay be indicated to the operator utilizing GPS, triangulation, deadreckoning, or other methods.

In certain implementations, it may be important for the operator orthose interacting with the live avatar to know when a live avatar isperforming other than as expected. In one implementation, the operatormay actuate an indicator light or display on or near the avatar, oractivate a tactile or audible signal, to indicate that the avatar is notperforming as expected. In another implementation, a computer may detectwhen the avatar is not obeying instructions (which may include athreshold, such as not obeying instructions to within a certaintolerance), and upon such detection may alert the operator, the liveavatar, and/or other persons such as those interacting with the liveavatar. Alerts may be audible, a warning light, a displayed message, orother appropriate method. Additionally, an indicator may be utilized toindicate when a live avatar is inhabited by an operator, and optionallythe identity or some other information about the inhabitant (forexample, a name, a geographic location, a gender, resume information,and/or other information). An indicator may also show connection speedand/or quality between the live avatar and the operator. Such anindication may permit those interacting with the avatar to understandthat delays in response are not necessarily indicative of delays by theoperator or live avatar, but rather traced to latency in transmission,processing delays, or even the limitations of the speed of light. Anindicator may also be used to show a lost connection, and may indicatethe length of time that the connection has been lost. An indicator mayalso be used to show that some data is being lost in transmission, suchas packet loss.

Compensation may be incorporated for communications latency. In oneimplementation, an indicator as to the amount of latency or delay may beutilized to indicate to third parties how much delay to expect.

A system computer server may enable the operator/live avatar methods asdisclosed herein, using one or more processors, a network interface, anda computer memory. The computer memory may hold instructions, that whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the server to perform theactions of: receiving control signals from a first client operated by ahuman operator, the control signals indicating a direction of operatorgaze relative to a defined body part of the operator, and transmittinginformation to a second client, the information indicating the relativedirection of operator gaze for providing a visible indication thereof toa live avatar connected to the second client. In addition, or in thealternative, the computer memory may hold instructions, that whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the server to perform theactions of: receiving video streams at a first server, the video streamsoriginating from separate video cameras worn or carried by differentpersons participating in a live event, and each associated with arespective identifier for ones of the different persons; serving aninterface, the interface indicating identifiers for the differentpersons and enabling each of multiple clients to select at least any oneof the video streams associated with the different persons participatingin the live event; receiving selection signals from the multipleclients; and directing the video streams in response to the selectionsignals.

For example, referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus 101 for enablingoperation of a live avatar may be adapted for wearing by a person, andmay include a processor 102, a movable optic device 106 coupled to theprocessor, a wireless network interface 108 coupled to the processor,and a memory 104 coupled to the processor. The apparatus may be incommunication with a remote client 116 via one or more networks 112 in asystem 100. The system 100 may also include one or more host servers 114for initiating and/or managing a connection between the avatar apparatus101 and the client 116. The client 116 may include any suitablecomputing device, for example, a personal computer, laptop computer,notebook computer, smart phone, or the like, able to receive user inputvia one or more user interface devices and provide a video display andaudio output reflecting audio-video input that is collected using theavatar apparatus 101. The apparatus 101 may be powered using a portablebattery pack or the like, to enable free mobility of the live avatar.

To that end, the apparatus 101 may further include a video camera 107and a microphone 110, both coupled to the processor 102, and/orappropriate input/output jacks for receiving video input from a cameraand audio input from a microphone or the like. The apparatus may furtherinclude one or more drive motors (not shown) for controlling theorientation of the camera 107 or microphone 110. The apparatus 101 mayfurther include a headphone or earphone 111 (and/or audio output portfor connecting a suitable headphone, earphone, or other audio outputdevice), to provide the live avatar with audible instructions or otheraudible feedback from the operator of the client 116.

The memory 104 may hold program instructions, that when executed by theprocessor, cause the apparatus to receive control signals via thewireless network interface 108 from the client device 116 operated by ahuman operator, interpret the control signals as indicating a directionof operator gaze, and to control a movable optic device 106 in responseto the control signals so as to direct a gaze of the live avatar. Thedirection of gaze may be defined relative to a defined body part of theoperator (e.g., right, left, up, down, etc.), relative to one or moreobjects visible to the avatar (e.g., looking at person ‘X’), or using acardinal direction (e.g., north, south, etc.).

The apparatus 101 may further include a visible indicator coupled to theprocessor and visibly indicating the relative direction of operator gazeoriented to the defined body part of the live avatar, the visibleindicator being responsive to the control signal to point out thedirection of operator gaze relative to the defined body part. Thevisible indicator may be incorporated into the movable optics 106.

In another aspect, the movable optics 106 of the apparatus 101 mayinclude a mechanism 120 coupled to the processor, the mechanism 120rotating at least one prism 122 or lens included in the movable optics106, in response to the control signals.

In another aspect, the apparatus may include a video stream inputcoupled to the processor receiving a video stream from a camera 107carried or worn by the live avatar, wherein the wireless networkinterface 108 transmits the video stream to the first client device fordisplay to the operator. In such case, the memory 104 may hold furtherinstructions that when executed by the processor, may cause theapparatus 101 to point the camera 107 in the direction of operator gazein response to the control signals. In another aspect, the apparatus 101may include a heads-up display 134 coupled to the processor 102 anddisplaying video images from the video stream to the live avatar. Thedisplayed video stream may enable the live avatar to see what theoperator is viewing so that the operator can look at the same object orscene. Thus, a person viewing or interacting with the live avatar mayreceive a natural-appearing visual cue of where the operator is looking,by the gaze direction of the live avatar. The heads-up display 134 maybe coupled to eyewear 130 or other head-mounted apparatus of the liveavatar. The eyewear 130 may include one or more lenses 132. Thecontrollable prism 122 or other light-bending lens may be included inthe lens 132. By looking through the lens, the avatar may receive anindication of the object or scene.

Of course, the operator may simply tell the avatar what the operator isviewing, via an earphone 111. The moveable optics device 106 does notnecessarily replace or foreclose the use of audible instructionsconcerning gaze direction or other matters. However, the moveable optics106 may be used to supplement audible communications and provide a moresubtle, continuous, and wordless indication of operator gaze direction.Thus, the moveable optics 106 may enable the live avatar to moreeffectively and continuously act in the person of the operator, therebyenhancing the performance of a live avatar service using the apparatus101.

In addition, or in the alternative, the apparatus 101 may include ahaptic device 105 coupled to the processor and indicating the relativedirection of operator gaze via an attachment to the live avatar. Theexample, a pressure transducer (e.g., a localized vibratory transducer)may be affixed at one or more points of the live avatar's body usingstraps or the like, and concealed under articles of clothing. The hapticdevice may readily and wordlessly communicate a gaze direction relativeto the live avatar's body, by triggering a sensation on the right orleft to indicate a desired movement right or left, placed forwards orback to indicate up/down, and providing other tactile feedback toindicate when the avatar's gaze is aligned with the remote operator, oris not aligned. In the alternative, or in addition, the haptic device oranother haptic device may be used to indicate operator commands from thefirst client device via an attachment to the live avatar, such as, forexample, move right, left, forward or backward.

In accordance with the described system 100, a method 200 for directingthe gaze of a live avatar may be performed, as shown in FIG. 2. Themethod 200 may be performed, for example, using an apparatus 101 asdescribed in connection with FIG. 1. The method 200 may include, at 202,receiving control signals from a remote client device operated by ahuman operator, the control signals indicating a direction of operatorgaze relative to a defined body part of the operator. The method 200 mayfurther include, a 204, controlling a movable optic device in responseto the control signals so as to direct a gaze of the live avatar. Asused herein, to “direct a gaze” means to provide an indication to aperson of where the person should look, or an indication of which objectin the person's vicinity the person should look at, using the wirelesscommunication apparatus 101. The directing of the gaze at 204 may beperformed wordlessly and continuously. The control signals controllingthe direction of gaze may be generated automatically using theoperator's client device, as further described herein.

In an optional aspect, the method 200 may further include visiblyindicating the relative direction of operator gaze using a visibleindicator oriented to the defined body part of the live avatar, thevisible indicator being responsive to the control signal to point outthe direction of operator gaze relative to the defined body part. Forexample, the defined body part may be selected from the group consistingof a head and a torso. In such case, the visible indicator may indicate,relative to the head or torso of the live avatar, the gaze direction ofthe live operator relative to the live operator's head or torso. In thealternative, or in addition, the gaze direction indicated to the liveavatar may indicate a direction in which the live avatar should orienthis head, torso, and/or eyes to view an object of interest to the remoteoperator. Examples of visual indicators have been provided herein, andmay include, for example, a low-power laser dot or an arrow displayed ona head-up display.

In another optional aspect, the movable optic device may include anoptical prism or lens configured to bend light in a defined direction.In such case, the method 200 may further include rotating at least oneprism or lens included in the movable optics, in response to the controlsignals. The live avatar may therefore receive the indication of thegaze direction by looking through the optical prism or lens.

In another optional aspect, the method 200 may include indicating therelative direction of operator gaze using a haptic device attached tothe live avatar. For example, a pressure transducer may provide animpulse or squeeze to the right side of the live avatar's body to directthe gaze of the live avatar rightward, and so forth. In addition, or inthe alternative, the method may include communicating commands signalsfrom the first client to the live avatar, using a haptic device attachedto the live avatar. For example, the live avatar may interpret a push bya haptic device on the live avatars right foot as a command to walk tothe right, and so forth.

In another optional aspect, the method 200 may further include, at 206,receiving a video stream from a camera carried or worn by the liveavatar, and transmitting the video stream to the first client device fordisplay to the operator. In such case, the method 200 may include, at208, controlling the camera direction in response to the controlsignals, to cause the camera to point in the direction of operator gaze.In addition, or in the alternative, the operator gaze may be defined bythe direction in which the camera is oriented, which may be directlycontrolled by the remote operator. When the camera is directlycontrolled by the operator, the method 200 may include, at 210,displaying video images from the video stream to the live avatar, usinga heads-up display. The moveable optic device may include the heads-updisplay. The live avatar may therefore direct his or her own gaze toview the object or scene appearing in the heads-up display. To a personinteracting with the live avatar, the live avatar will thereby beactually viewing the same scene as the remote operator, such that thelive avatar more fully represents the remote operator. In thealternative, or in addition, the heads-up display may display an arrowor other symbolic indicator to indicate the gaze direction of theoperator.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system 300 for aggregating multiple live avatars302, 304 (two of many shown) and multiple clients 312, 314 (two of manyshown) via a host Avatar Interface (AI) server 310. The AI server 310may include one or more component computers connected in a hierarchicalor peer-to-peer relationship, in communication with the clients 312, 314through the World Wide Web or other networked system using one or morecommunications networks 308. The AI server 310 may serve a networkinterface document 316, e.g., an HTML or XML interface document forinitiating and managing connections between the clients 312, 314 and theavatars 302, 304. The AI server 310 may also host a back-end databasefor caching or long-term storing of live avatar audio-video feeds,managing live avatar and operator accounts, managing back-endadministration, and managing commerce aspects or live avatar services.Clients 312, 314 may be configured as any suitable computing client, asdescribed elsewhere herein. The avatar systems 302 may include anysuitable embodiment of the avatar apparatus 101 as disclosed herein inconnection with FIG. 1, or elsewhere in the present disclosure.

An AI server 310 as shown in FIG. 3 may be used to perform a method 400for initiating live avatar sessions with multiple clients, as diagrammedin FIG. 4. The method 400 may enable commercialization of live avatarservices to an essentially unlimited marketplace of prospective clients.The method 400 may include a computer server or the like, at 402,receiving video streams at a first server. Each video stream may be, ormay include, a live video feed originating from one of separate videocameras carried at contemporaneous times by different live avatars. Eachvideo stream may be associated with a respective identifier for ones ofthe different live avatars, and optionally with a description of aparticular live event that the avatar is participating in. The method400 may further include, at 404, serving an interface, the interfaceindicating identifiers for the different live avatars and enabling eachof multiple clients to select at least any one of the video streamsassociated with the different live avatars. The interface may indicateother information pertinent to the live avatar service, for example,other information regarding the live event where the live avatar ispresent, hourly rates for each live avatar, or technical features of theavatar apparatus in use by each avatar. The method 400 may furtherinclude, at 406, receiving selection signals from the multiple clients,each selecting signal indicating one of the multiple live avatars towhich a client desires to initiate a live avatar session. The method 400may further include, at 408, initiating connections between the multipleclients and the live avatars for controlling respective ones of the liveavatars. For example, the AI server may provide each client with addressand security information with which the client may establish a liveavatar session with a particular avatar system. Optionally, the AIserver may collect a fee prior to initiating a session, or may track thelength of each ongoing session and debit a user account accordingly. TheAI server may also cache video streams from the avatars, or other liveavatar session data, for administrative or archival purposes.

In an aspect, the method 400 may include the server configuring theinterface to include only selected ones of the video streams from liveavatars that are not being controlled by any one of multiple clients. Inthe alternative, or in addition, the method 400 may include configuringthe interface to indicate whether respective ones of the live avatarsare being controlled by any one of multiple clients. The method may beimplemented using one or more computers having at least one port forconnecting to a wide area network, using program instructions encodingin a computer-readable storage medium or the like. When executed by aprocessor of the one or more computers, the instructions may cause theone or more computers to perform the described operations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving control signalsfrom a first client device operated by a human operator, the controlsignals indicating a direction of operator gaze; and controlling amovable optic device in response to the control signals so as to directa gaze of the live avatar.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingvisibly indicating the relative direction of operator gaze using avisible indicator oriented to a defined body part of the live avatar,the visible indicator being responsive to the control signal to pointout the direction of operator gaze relative to the defined body part. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the defined body part of the live avataris selected from the group consisting of a head and a torso.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising rotating at least one prismincluded in the movable optics, in response to the control signals. 5.The method of claim 1, further comprising indicating the relativedirection of operator gaze using a haptic device attached to the liveavatar.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a videostream from a camera carried or worn by the live avatar, andtransmitting the video stream to the first client device for display tothe operator.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising controllingthe camera direction in response to the control signals, to cause thecamera to point in the direction of operator gaze.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising displaying video images from the videostream to the live avatar, using a heads-up display.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising communicating commands signals from thefirst client to the live avatar, using a haptic device attached to thelive avatar.
 10. A method, comprising: receiving video streams at afirst server, the video streams originating from separate video camerascarried at contemporaneous times by different live avatars, and eachassociated with a respective identifier for ones of the different liveavatars; serving an interface, the interface indicating identifiers forthe different live avatars and enabling each of multiple clients toselect at least any one of the video streams associated with thedifferent live avatars; receiving selection signals from the multipleclients; and initiating connections between the multiple clients and thelive avatars for controlling respective ones of the live avatars. 11.The method of claim 10, further comprising configuring the interface toinclude only selected ones of the video streams from live avatars thatare not being controlled by any one of multiple clients.
 12. The methodof claim 10, further comprising configuring the interface to indicatewhether respective ones of the live avatars are being controlled by anyone of multiple clients.
 13. An apparatus for enabling operation of alive avatar, comprising: a processor, a movable optic device coupled tothe processor, a wireless network interface coupled to the processor;and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory holding instructions,that when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to receivecontrol signals via the wireless network interface from a first clientdevice operated by a human operator, interpret the control signalsindicating a direction of operator gaze, and to control a movable opticdevice in response to the control signals so as to direct a gaze of thelive avatar.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a visibleindicator coupled to the processor and visibly indicating the relativedirection of operator gaze oriented to a defined body part of the liveavatar, the visible indicator being responsive to the control signal topoint out the direction of operator gaze relative to the defined bodypart.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a mechanismcoupled to the processor, the mechanism rotating at least one prismincluded in the movable optics in response to the control signals. 16.The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a haptic device coupled tothe processor and indicating the relative direction of operator gaze viaan attachment to the live avatar.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13, furthercomprising a video stream input coupled to the processor receiving avideo stream from a camera carried or worn by the live avatar, whereinthe wireless network interface transmits the video stream to the firstclient device for display to the operator.
 18. The apparatus of claim17, wherein the memory holds further instructions that when executed bythe processor, cause the apparatus to point the camera in the directionof operator gaze relative to the defined body part of the live avatar inresponse to the control signals.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, furthercomprising a heads-up display coupled to the processor and displayingvideo images from the video stream to the live avatar.
 20. The apparatusof claim 13, further comprising a haptic device coupled to the processorand indicating operator commands from the first client device via anattachment to the live avatar.